Frugal, My A$$: My Year in Review

Posted on December 27, 2011 by
Have you ever had one of those moments where you are hit so hard by an epiphany that you nearly fall out of your chair? Well, I certainly had one today as I counted the numbers for 2011! 
As I totaled each category of my spending for the past 12 months, I literally felt as if I were in some sort of Jerry Lewis telethon–watching the numbers on the big board roll over rapidly, forever climbing into the upper stratosphere of charity in the name of medical advancements. Except there was no charity work being done here. There were no ringing phones and visiting celebrities; there were no thankful children or stories of families helped by the MDA’s fundraising efforts. But there was a series of increasing numbers–all of which made me wonder if 2011 had been nothing more than a big, fat, frugal FAIL.
Luckily, I had the foresight to tally up some other, more promising numbers: those of my savings increases, my retirement account growth, and my mortgage payoff efforts. Looking over these numbers with the others helped me to realize that 2011 has indeed been a banner year. Without further adieu, I leave the following for your analyzing pleasure:
  

2011 Spending: 

Medical ($361.90): Co-pays, Rx, Dentist
Car ($3,274.23): Insurance, maintenance (Control Arm replacement, new timing belt, new battery)
Clothes ($436.18): New work clothes, shoes, accessories
Eating out ($2,010,64): Self-explanatory, but ridonculously high!
Groceries ($394.88): This will increase in 2012 in an effort to cook more dinner at home
Gas ($874.42): Once I began biking to work, this dropped significantly
Alcohol ($742.16): Wine club, lots o’ entertaining this year…oy vey!
Misc ($2,795.09): Concerts, household items, new bike, gifts, charity, 30 on 30, race entry fees, toiletries
Kitties ($1,029.95): Cost of adopting, spaying, neutering, vaccinating, and feeding/litter-boxing my little beasts
OGB ($287.91): Operation Giving Back
2011 Travel Expenses:


Acadia ($179): Labor Day Camping Trip
Cancun ($716.79): Fall, 2011
Colorado ($241.16): Snowboard trip, January 2011
Disney ($412.20): Race entry fees/flight for Jan. 2012 trip; still waiting to see what happens with hotel & tickets
Greece ($2,314.19): Fall 2011
Napa ($640): Wine country tour, July 2011

2011 Savings: 

Savings: Began @ $11,796.35; Ended @ $24,006.37
Retirement: Began @ $42,352.55; Ended @ $50,731.95 (stock market = no bueno this year!)

2011 Mortgage Payoff:
 
Mortgage 1:  
$9,273.35-Interest (boo, eh, ugh…blech!)
$3,227.73-Principle


 
Mortgage 2:  
$8,583.50-Principle (I’ve cut 17 YEARS off of this mortgage!)
$2,879.30-Interest

After reviewing these numbers and thinking about my 12 goals for 2012, I’m feeling pretty confident about the upcoming year. I’ll certainly have to remember to employ my financial rules (definitely using #3 and #5 sparingly!) and create some sort of adult allowance for my monthly spending–especially the dining out bit, but I’ll also remember to keep my eyes on the prize so I don’t burn out. And of course, I’ll continuously be trying to figure out ways to make some extra cash!

Overall, my final takeaway from all of this is that I’m incredibly blessed to be in the position I am. If you’ve read any of my archives or the pages in the upper nav bar, you’ll gain some idea of my (quite rocky) financial journey. But working hard is not the golden ticket to spend recklessly or frivolously. Moving into 2012, I want to concentrate on trimming my miscellaneous spending as part of an on-going monthly challenge. I’ll still be taking a few vacations, but I’ll also be making sure to spend with intention and to give back however/whenever I can. Hot damn for a good kick-in-the-pants yearly review-induced epiphany!

How was your 2011? If you track your spending, did you have any epiphanies/find any surprises when reviewing the entire year??

           

Comments

Frugal, My A$$: My Year in Review — 7 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.thehappyhomeowner.net%2F2011%2F12%2Ffrugal-my-my-year-in-review.htmlFrugal%2C+My+A%24%24%3A+My+Year+in+Review2011-12-27+20%3A58%3A00Jenhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.thehappyhomeowner.net%2F2011%2F12%2F27%2Ffrugal-my-a-my-year-in-review.html

  1. Sorry for any confusion with this post yesterday–I was experimenting with the "read more" page breaks to show less content from each post on the main page, but I don't like how that looks and have reverted to showing the entire post all at once….

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  2. Wow you did good in 2011!I didn't track my spending that closely, but I signed up for Mint around a month ago, and that is helping me a lot.

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  3. That looks awesome, I was amazed by how low your groceries were until I saw them separated from your alcohol expense and your dining out. All the best for achieving your 2012 goals, I'll be reading with interest.

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  5. @Michelle–Thanks! I definitely appreciate my Excel sheet at times like this. Tracking to the penny has certainly opened my eyes as to how I'm really spending my $$@Anon–Thank you! Yes, my grocery tab looks very small, but I also break out household items such as cleaners and toiletries into my miscellaneous category. Groceries is strictly food. Good luck with your 2012 goals as well!@Kevin–It was a beautiful combination of Jetblue points, having a friend to crash with, and discount lift tickets through another friend. Not too shabby, eh? :)

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  6. I've just spent a couple hours crunching my annual numbers and going over comparisons with 2010! It certainly was an eye opener – and glad to see we're going in the right direction.

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  7. Totals can be shocking. I remember opening mail for some reward points and was shocked at the amount I spent on gas, it was even more scary because that wasn't even all the gas I bought.When you are doing things like this I think it is best to compare it side by side with your achievements and experiences.The totals can be shockers but if you relive the experiences you might find them worth it.

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